CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Ayal tunneled upward through rock and soil, passing the deep roots of an old tree. She emerged in brightness and confusion, surrounded by a sea of white sand. Heat pummeled from the relentless sun, and she wandered, lost, until Girl-With-Hands-Like-Ice found her.

—THE AYALYA

Ella held her breath as she pushed the door to her flat open. Next to her, Tana and Ulani stood in the doorway, peering cautiously into the room.

“Come in, come in,” she said, shooing the girls forward. Nerves bit her belly as she took in their reactions.

“It isn’t much, just one bedroom, but we’ll only be here for a few days. My friend Anneli is renting us one of her townhomes, which has much more space, but she’s had to get it cleaned out first. It’s been empty for a few years. However, we should be able to go in there by Sixthday.”

Aware that she was rambling, she clamped her lips shut to cut off the stream of words. How much did the girls even understand? Gratitude for Anneli and her rental property threatened to burst from her seams. The older woman was eccentric to a fault, but kindhearted, and she was giving them a great deal on the lease of a town house they otherwise couldn’t have afforded.

“For the next few nights, you two can take the bed; Benn and I will sleep out here.”

Benn had borrowed two cots, which sat folded in the corner, but Ella wanted the girls to sleep in a real bed after so many weeks in the refugee camp lying on mats on the floor. She and Benn would survive for a few nights of relatively rough living.

The adoption approval had been a very welcome surprise, but they’d barely had any time to really prepare for the arrival of the girls. Her fear that Syllenne Nidos would stop the adoption had proved unfounded. She wasn’t sure who she had to thank, Gizelle or the High Priestess herself. Though the raids on the temples meant that the woman had bigger problems to deal with. Ella certainly rated low in comparison to suspicion of being involved in an act of terrorism.

After walking the perimeter of the small sitting room on wobbly legs, Ulani settled into a perch on the edge of the couch. Tana stood next to her, taking in their surroundings.

“Sit, sit—please,” Ella said, motioning the girl down. Tana sank awkwardly onto the cushion, but both girls looked uncomfortable.

“Would you prefer to sit on the ground?” Ella took the third cushion, placed it on the floor, then sat on it cross-legged. Ulani smiled and did the same, followed somewhat begrudgingly by her older sister.

“Benn will be here soon.” At that, Tana looked up with interest. “We both want you to feel comfortable. It’s a lot to get used to. We want you to be happy here.”

Ulani nodded vigorously. “Happy. Very happy.”

Ella’s smile hurt her cheeks. Her nerves began to settle a fraction when a resounding knock on the door startled everyone.

She rose to answer the door and had to force herself not to close it again immediately. “Vera,” she exclaimed, though dread slid down her spine. “What a surprise. Benn didn’t tell me you were visiting.”

Vera Ravel stood before her, cheeks red from the exertion of the climb to the third floor. “I get a call from my son saying he’s adopted two—”

“Girls!” Ella called out brightly. If this woman called either of her daughters a grol, things would get ugly fast. “This is Benn’s mama.” She presented Vera with a sweep of her arm. The girls stood up and executed neat curtsies.

Ella’s brows rose. “Where did you learn that?”

“Elsiran … manners,” Tana said, glaring at Vera.

“How lovely,” she said, making a note to distinguish formal greetings from informal ones at some point in the future. For her part, Vera’s jaw still hadn’t shut. She’d probably never been curtsied to in her life. Reluctantly Ella stepped aside to allow her mother-in-law into the flat.

“Girls, this is Grandma Vera. Vera, this is Ulani and Tana.” She tried to inject some cheer into her voice, but Ulani was already regarding the woman judiciously. The child’s ability to sense emotion would be a blessing and a curse.

Still, Ulani came over and wrapped little arms around her new grandmother. Vera stiffened and patted the girl’s head lightly, appearing perplexed.

Tana approached like a skittish cat, keeping to the side of the room. She didn’t touch Vera but reached out to pull Ulani back to her side. How interesting that Ulani was the Earthsinger, aware of Vera’s feelings, but Tana exhibited far more caution.

Ella took some satisfaction in Vera’s dazed expression. Until the woman pulled herself together enough to regard the room with blatant disapproval.

“I don’t know what in Sovereign’s name inspired you to adopt two … refugee children when there are plenty of motherless Elsirans about. But you can’t possibly think you’re going to raise them here?”

Ella took a deep breath. “No, of course not. We’re renting a house on Port Hill Road.”

Vera’s eyes widened, impressed. While no section of Portside could be considered posh, Anneli had bought her property in the nicest part of the neighborhood. Vera sniffed and sat in one of the two armchairs. Ella pursed her lips and motioned the girls back onto their cushions.

Vera’s visible alarm at the approximation of traditional Lagrimari seating made Ella restless. “Can I offer you some tea?”

The woman wearily accepted with an incline of the head. But if Ella thought she would get a reprieve in the small kitchenette, she was wrong.

“Do you think it’s wise to bring these sort of children into your home?” her mother-in-law called out. “The witchcraft they’re capable of. Why, they could murder you in your sleep.”

Ella counted to ten before turning around, a fractured smile plastered to her face. “These are my children, mine and Benn’s. And they are learning Elsiran, so I would kindly thank you not to accuse them of murder on their first day here.”

Vera waved her hand, dismissively. “Oh, I’m sure you lead that boy around by the nose enough to get him to agree to anything. He hasn’t been right since he met you.” She tsked and sat back farther in her chair.

The girls looked on with wide eyes, and Ella prayed they weren’t understanding much. She, however, was used to Benn’s family, having dealt with them for the past six years.

Initially, she’d hoped to foster a close relationship with them considering she hadn’t seen her own parents since she was a young teen, but that was not to be. She could only hope that with her own daughters, she would be able to create the sort of family she’d always dreamed of.

Brushing away the sting of the old disappointment, she opened the icebox, pulled out the two colas she’d splurged on at the market, and set them before the girls. They looked at the glass bottles curiously, and Ella realized they didn’t know what they were.

She opened the top of one and handed it to Tana. The girl took a measured sip and then rewarded Ella with the biggest smile she’d ever given. Tana handed the bottle to Ulani who sipped the beverage and then began giggling infectiously.

She said a word that Ella didn’t understand. “Bubbles,” Tana said, translating. Ella laughed along with the girls.

“Good, isn’t it?” she said.

Ulani offered Ella the bottle; she took a small sip before returning it. “Very good,” Ulani replied, grinning.

Ella turned to find Vera gazing at the girls, an unreadable expression on her face. She was prepared to kick the woman out on her arse, mother-in-law or not, if her hostility toward the children continued, but Vera looked more flummoxed than anything else, so Ella held her tongue.

The door burst open revealing Benn, who skidded to a comic halt as he took in the scene.

Tana abandoned her soda to jump up and give him a hug, with Ulani right behind her. Benn produced two candies from his pocket and then leveled a gaze at his mother, eyes guarded.

“Mama, I see you’ve met the family.” Each girl clung to him with one hand while trying to unwrap their treats with the other.

“Yes, I have,” Vera replied. “I wish you’d spoken with me and your father before making such a big decision.”

Benn shrugged. “The decision was Ella’s and mine. I didn’t see the need for more opinions.”

“You keep bringing foreigners into our family,” she said, shaking her head.

Benn stood straight, dashing and severe, for all that the girls still hung from his legs. “I keep bringing family into our family.” His seriousness broke as he looked down. “All right, girls. I need my legs back.” He gently plucked them off and approached Ella for a hug.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know she would show up immediately,” he whispered into her hair as they embraced. The teakettle’s whistle cut off her response.

As she prepared the tea, Benn settled at the kitchen table, tossing down the evening newspaper he’d brought in with him. Vera rose from her chair to settle herself at the table, then gasped, reading the headline.

“‘High Priestess Arrested’?”

She dragged the paper closer and straightened the folded page. Ella stood next to her, teacup in hand, reading over her shoulder. A sickening feeling spread over her as Vera read.

“It says that they found palmsalt residue in a storeroom at the Eastern temple. There is overwhelming evidence pointing to Syllenne as the orchestrator of the bombing.”

Papers rustled as Vera turned the page. Frozen, Ella found the cups removed from her hands and herself drawn down onto Benn’s lap. She stared unseeing as Vera read aloud.

“‘Officials suspect that with the Great Awakening, High Priestess Syllenne found her power in the organization diminished. Though she still ran the day-to-day operations of the Sisterhood, the spiritual needs of the people are now being ministered to by the Goddess Herself. This reduction in her influence and esteem caused a break in her mental status, says one source close to the investigation.’”

The paper fell from Vera’s shaking hands. “The stress of the Awakening must have caused her to lose her mind. Imagine that…” She stared out the window into the distance.

Ella gave a sidelong glance to Benn. Vera was lost in her thoughts and the girls were chattering quietly to themselves as they shared their colas.

She motioned for Benn to follow her into the bedroom, where she left the door open a crack. “As much as I’d like to see Syllenne Nidos behind bars, something isn’t quite right about this.”

“I know,” Benn said. “I finally cracked the code in Hak Floodhammer’s account ledger today.” He pulled a piece of paper from the inside of his jacket pocket. “It was a complicated cipher, but here are the entries from five weeks ago.”

“‘Zero point five kilos palmsalt sold to a C. T. Herd.’” Ella frowned. “C. T. Herd? As in ‘cull the herd’?”

Benn’s lips firmed to an angry line. “The constables investigating the bombing had already taken Syllenne into custody. I brought this to them, but they weren’t interested. I sent it along to Director Dillot at the Intelligence Service. I hope they can inject some sense into this.”

“What did they find at the temple? What sort of evidence could there have been against Syllenne?” Ella asked.

“Palmsalt leaves a residue when stored for a long period of time. They tested the storerooms and found small traces. That coupled with the ledger convinced them.”

Ella dismissed that with a wave of her hand. “That sounds circumstantial at best.”

“Well, they also have a witness,” Benn said. “A young Lagrimari acolyte to the Sisterhood said she witnessed the High Priestess overseeing the transfer of several large bags that were stored in the location they found the palmsalt residue. Her testimony was damning.”

“That’s not in the papers.”

“No, they’re trying to preserve the girl’s identity from any backlash. And Syllenne isn’t speaking to anyone—not the investigators, not her attorneys, not even her Sisters.”

Ella’s foot vibrated. “Something’s wrong here, Benn. I know that Syllenne is monstrous, and I wouldn’t put anything past her—but if they have the wrong person here…”

Benn placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know. This could all be a distraction to turn our attention from what the Reapers are planning next.”

Ella peered through the bedroom door to find everyone still in the same positions as before. But she shouldn’t leave Vera alone with the girls for any length of time. She shook her head at Benn and went back out to the sitting room.

Vera was still dazed. As a devout follower of the Goddess, she had spent her life viewing the role of High Priestess with an almost godlike fervor. Benn sat beside his mother and put his arm around her. Silent tears leaked down the woman’s face.

“It just doesn’t make any sense. I wish we could see inside the High Priestess’s mind to know what she was thinking. How could she have done something so awful? My next-door neighbor had gone to temple just the day before it exploded. I could have been there that day. Any one of us could have been harmed in the bombing.” Vera’s expression was so desolate, Ella almost felt sorry for her.

“We may never know,” Benn said, rubbing his mother’s arm. “She’s refusing to answer any questions, so it’s possible we won’t ever know her side of the story.”

As Vera shook her head and blew her nose on one of Ella’s good napkins, the spark of an idea formed in Ella’s mind. If the High Priestess was being railroaded or framed and wouldn’t speak to her advocates or friends, perhaps she would speak to an enemy.